


milk teeth (children at war are not children at all)

by scarsimp



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, Mustang's Team, SUFFER WITH ME, Slice of Life, Team as Family, ed still has baby teeth when he joins the military fun fact, he loses an incisor, small amount of Angst, specifically primary cuspid 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:02:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25961020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarsimp/pseuds/scarsimp
Summary: "Huh — it finally came out. 'S been long enough. It's been loose since I had just turned thirteen."Ed still has baby teeth. It comes as a brutal reminder.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 275





	milk teeth (children at war are not children at all)

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the intense title i was listening to joji while writing this

Ed hemmed and hawed, stretching and rolling his shoulders as they trekked up the stairs to Eastern HQ. “What do you think everyone is up to?”   
  
Al went to try and shrug, stopping when the joints to his suit creaked in warning. “Probably working, brother. Maybe they’re on break?” 

“Is it physically possible for Lieutenant Hawkeye to take a break?” Ed snorted, before pushing on the doors and forcing them open. “She’s always having to babysit the colonel, afterall.”    
  
“I don’t think babysit is the right word…” Al trailed off when they entered the center rooms, pausing to take in the foregin scene. 

The office was shockingly active, Havoc and Falman waving to Al and him as they walked through, and Ed couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face when he spotted Black Hayate. "Hughes is visiting!" He heard Fuery yell as Al opened the door, "He brought donuts, you should grab one while you're in there!" 

Ed shrugged, glancing to Al, who laughed faintly. "You should. you missed lunch, right?" 

"Eh... maybe, I am kinda hungry." Ed admitted, sliding into the office and clapping to grab everyone's attention. "Guess who!"

Ed regretted the words when Mustang raised a brow, smirking. "I don't know, I can't see anyone over my desk." 

"Oh—" Ed snarled, only stopping when Hughes jolted up from the couch and shook a box in front of his face. Al sighed in relief somewhere behind him, glad the ensuing crisis would be diverted. "What-?"

"I brought donuts!" The man declared, opening the box with careful fingers and gesturing towards Ed. "Gracia made them, so you know they're perfect, and we had extra! Can't let Elicia have too much sugar, you know how it is." 

Ed relaxed at the rambling, looking amused as he went on and on. Pausing to pull his glove off, he carefully took one of the donuts with his left hand, the plain glaze sticky against his fingers and smelling sweet. "Don't mind if I do, they smell really nice." 

"Hell yeah they do! I'd offer you some coffee but Roy already drank it all— not like he doesn't stay up all night anyway." Hughes rolled his eyes when Roy made a noise of protest in the background. "It was the good stuff too, not that sludge they serve in the cafeteria." 

"You don't need any caffeine, I think you naturally produce it." Roy snapped, tossing a pen at Hughes, only for the other to catch it and stick his tongue out. Typical Hughes, Ed wondered if he was capable of ever being serious. 

Ed nodded slowly as they dissolved into bickering, biting into the donut and trying not to choke on it from laughter. He frowned when he felt a small stab in his gum, swallowing slowly and poking through his mouth with a finger. 

When nothing felt weird, he shrugged and took another bite, only to grunt. 

"What's wrong, brother?" Al stared down at him in concern, and he said something muffled as he struggled to answer.

"'M toof," Ed managed, before moving to spit his mouthful out into Mustang's trash can. 

"Fullmetal!" 

"Hey, do you not like it, Ed?"

Ed held up his index finger, before frowning and reaching into his mouth. 

"Oh! His tooth came loose." Al said it with nonchalance, while Hughes and Roy both stared at the teen with a certain amount of incredulity. “That was the second one this month, wasn’t it?”

"Huh — it finally came out. 'S been long enough. It's been loose since I had just turned thirteen." He glanced over to Al, before eyeing the bloody incisor. “I think so? Should hopefully be the last one, too.” Ed grimaced, before looking back to Hughes. “Are you sure you’re out of coffee? My mouth tastes like blood.”

Hughes had a strange look on his face, but nodded anyway. “I’ll- uh, see if Riza has anything.”

*****

Later that evening, Maes was stock still, leaning on Roy's desk with a look on his face that chilled his stomach. A dead look, flat eyes and a flatter smile, head tilted back and eyeing the window like it was a bomb. A soldier's look. 

"Maes?" Roy stepped quietly into the room, watching the other with apprehension as he moved closer. He had been gone for some time, stuck in a meeting that dragged on for eons. "What's wrong?" 

That question broke something into pieces, and Maes' face crumpled. "He's  _ fourteen. _ " He managed, scrubbing a knife-callused hand over his face and sighing harshly. "He's… he's a  _ kid _ ." 

Roy felt a frown tugging at his lips, "Where is this coming from?" He ventured, reluctant to move closer with how on edge his friend was. Maes was too knife happy on a good day. 

"He has baby teeth.  _ Elicia _ has baby teeth, Roy." 

Oh.  _ Oh. _

Roy suddenly felt exhaustion pulling at his shoulders, a weight he could never adjust to. "He knew what he was getting in—"

"Bullshit!" Maes glared around the room, silent for a moment, "He was twelve, and you think he knew what he was getting into? It's illegal to vote until you're twenty!" 

"Hughes—"

"Where were you at twelve, Roy?" Maes snapped, pointing a finger. "You hadn't even gotten into alchemy at that point."

"What happened to me at that age doesn't matter, Hughes." Roy was frowning now, eyebrow arched and irritation evident in his voice.

"Really?" Maes sent him a flat look, and Roy was reminded of how much of an  _ act _ he put together. "Where do you want Elicia to be at twelve?" 

Roy's voice caught in his throat. 

*****

"Hey, Al?"

"Yeah, big brother?" 

Ed looked up, staring at the vast orange sky as the ground below them rushed by in a blur. The train was a quiet rumble in the background, rushing in the back of his mind. "Do you remember when mom would pretend a fairy stole our teeth?" 

He could hear Al shift, before a laugh rang out from the armor. "Yeah! She'd make us hide them under our pillow, and sneak in to trade them with cenz." 

Ed sighed faintly, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I'd always be so excited to wake up the next morning, even after I figured out it was her."

Al hummed, "It really was exciting... I miss it." He fell silent after that, and Ed tongued the gap in his teeth with another, louder sigh. 

"I miss it too." 


End file.
